I think for us males we don't want to ever admit to getting old or feeling that way. To be honest, with the abuse I have put my body through I thought I would be a lot sorer; KNOCK ON WOOD. For the most part I feel no different than when I was in my 20's and 30's. In fact I am in better shape so I would say my life has gotten better. In my 20's and 30's I couldn't Deadlift over 400 lbs and now in my 40's I can and I plan to increase this.

We may get older but staying in shape with activities is the key to a better life when we are older. Sure small aches and pains but nothing not manageable. And as I get older I'm sure those will increase and I may retract some of my statements but for now I am a 20 year who has lived more years than is reflected and nothing is slowing me down right now too much.

_________________________"IF I COME ... I'M BRINGING THE PAIN WITH ME"

At a recent belt testing I saw 56 year old 4th & 5th Dan (they also brought some of there younger Dans) who believe in never stop competing beat down 25-35 year old men & women testing for there shodan. Now the experience level was in the older guys favor but speed and youth was in the younger guys bag. But they couldn't use there speed against the older Dans. I remember these older Dan when they were younger they were a lot faster and more mobile. Now what they have is strength in technique, smarts,timing and distance. Now the respector factor was not a point because the new testing Shodans didn't know who these guys were until after the test.

Now the old Dans had size and pwoer over the new yet to be Shodans so they could control how often and if they wanted to trade getting hit. It became a trail of just make it through don't worry about winning because you can't.

I guess you can grow old gracefully if you can train everyday and you are bigger and there a big gap in experience.

I'm Taking up Judo Properly in about 2 weeks and I hope my body will be able to cope with the new regime!!!

I will see if the "its never too late!!!" adage is true!!!

Dobbersky, make sure you focus on learning the break falls really well. Especially slapping your hand down hard on the ground when you fall makes a huge difference. I've only been thrown by someone at full power twice, the first time caught me unprepared and I didn't slap the ground and the second time I made sure to slap hard. It made a huge difference, I was barely sore the second time whereas I was winded the first time.

Also, see if you can ask to start out on a crash mat instead of the thin mats first, they're much softer.

You don't necessarily lose speed as you age. I'm faster than any shodan or nidan I train with, and I'm a turtle compared to my sensei, who's a few years older than me. Repitition will burn those neural pathways.

That said, recognition through experience, eliminating wasted movement and controlling the distance from your opponent can make you look faster.